Virginia Women's Cross Country Places Fourth at Pre-Nationals

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Oct. 19, 2013

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – The Virginia women’s cross country team had a strong performance Saturday morning, placing fourth at the Pre-National Invitational, hosted by Indiana State University. The No. 16 Cavaliers had five runners finish in the top 60 of a race that featured 13 schools ranked in the top 30 nationally, held at the site of this year’s NCAA Championships.

Fifth-ranked Georgetown won the race with 116 points, followed by second-ranked Florida State (162 points) and No. 20 Butler (176 points). The Cavaliers (191 points) were followed by sixth-ranked Oregon (214 points), No. 14 Michigan (219 points) and No. 12 Colorado (223 points). Nationally-ranked teams William & Mary (No. 21), Stanford (No. 11) and Princeton (No. 23) rounded out the top 10.

Senior Barbara Strehler (Richmond, Va.) led the Cavaliers, finishing 11th overall in a time of 20:22.8 on the 6K course. First-year Maria Hauger (Shakopee, Minn.) was 31st and junior Kathleen Stevens (Blacksburg, Va.) finished in 39th place. First-years Sarah Fakler (Phoenix, Ariz.) and Sara Sargent (Philadelphia, Pa.) rounded out the scoring five for Virginia in 52th and 58th place respectively.

“We took another step forward today and handled a large, talented field well,” said women’s cross country coach Todd Morgan. “Hard work and toughness can make up for a lack of experience. I saw some things we can take back to Charlottesville and work on for the championship meets ahead.”

The Cavalier men and women will next compete at the ACC Championships on Nov. 1 in Kernersville, N.C.

Top Five Teams
1. Georgetown 116
2. Florida State 162
3. Butler 176
4. Virginia 191
5. Oregon 214

Virginia Results
11. Barbara Strehler 20:22.8
31. Maria Hauger 20:50.5
39. Kathleen Stevens 20:55.4
52. Sarah Fakler 21:02.2
58. Sara Sargent 21:07.3
68. Vicky Fouhy 21:13.2
107. Cleo Boyd 21:31.4